Sunday, July 06, 2008

Round-up

Got back from Edinburgh a week ago and somehow didn't quite get round to blogging the last three films I saw, on the Saturday. First up was "The New Ten Commandments", a series of short films by a number of Scottish directors about human rights, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. As you'd expect with ten different films by ten directors, they were a mixed bag, although all powerful in the own way. Hopefully it'll be shown on BBC in December.

Next up, "Encounters at the End of the World", a documentary by Werner Herzog about the people who live and work at Antarctica. It was funny, insightful, and moving. Well worth seeing.

Finally, "Faintheart", directed by Vito Rocco, a film made through Myspace, although the talk I went to the previous day by the Faintheart people showed that in fact there was minimal input from the Myspace community, and what input there was, was tightly controlled. The film itself was notable only for the "My Movie Mashup" thing really - it was a fairly traditional Britcom, predictable, funny in places, very funny in others, but ultimately nothing really new. Sweet, fun to watch, but no more.

So, it was an OK film day, but nothing knocked "Man on Wire" off my own personal topspot. It also won the Audience Award, and Somers Town won the Michael Powell Award. On the whole, EIFF turned out to be OK but no more than that - apparently the box office was as good, and the number of delegates registering was the same as previous years, but there just wasn't a festival feel about the place, and the selection of films was not as inspiring as it has been. The best bits, for me, were the readings and the panel at the Traverse - which wasn't actually film at all, really.

And in other news, B and I did Race for Life today - not exactly racing, but never mind, we finished and got one of these:

And it's not too late to sponsor me if you meant to and didn't quite get round to it - just click on the link in the box to the right. Thank you!!

4 Comments:

I'm somewhat envious - sounds like it was a damned good trip. Oh, and well done on the Race for Life thingy. I seem to be surrounded by brave ladies who all did the same and who delight in jingle-jangling their medals in front of me. Good on you all I say. Worthy cause.

The12th Annual LA Shorts Fest returns to Hollywood August 15 – 21, 2008 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theaters. The largest short film festival premieres the best shorts in the world. In past years, 30 participants have earned Academy Award nominations, with 9 filmmakers actually taking home the Oscar. This is where entertainment professionals and trend setters discover the next hot new talents. 323-461-4400 www.lashortsfest.com

About Me

I started the blog as a way of keeping in touch with people while I was in Cannes in 2006, then decided to keep it going to chart what happens next as I try to get my scripts read and my films made.
Meanwhile, when not writing about writing, theatre and film reviews, food and gardening may well creep in.